Rahm Welcomes Chris Christie to City with Jab at Jersey Bridge Controversy

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks to guests at the Clinton Global Initiative last June in Chicago.
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EAST VILLAGE — Mayor Rahm Emanuel couldn't resist a jab at Gov. Chris Christie as the New Jersey politician made a fundraising visit to Chicago Tuesday.

"I'm welcoming him to the public transportation system and the roads here in the City of Chicago," Emanuel said Tuesday during a news conference at Wells High School. "And I'm sure he'll enjoy it while he's here, and he'll see a great city, a city that's on the move."

Christie has been dogged by controversy over the closure of lanes to the George Washington Bridge to New York City last summer in what critics have charged was payback by Christie's administration against cities whose mayors didn't support him politically. Emanuel's remarks made thinly veiled reference to those woes.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel couldn't resist a jab at Gov. Chris Christie as the New Jersey politician made a fundraising visit to Chicago Tuesday.
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The mayor then launched into a laundry list of advances under his administration in education and investing in infrastructure.

Asked about Christie's presidential prospects in 2016, Emanuel said, "I think he has a couple issues before he even talks about that."

Christie is on a fundraising trip as head of the Republican Governors Association.